◼ In a Gallup tracking poll released Tuesday, former-President George W. Bush currently stands with a favorability rating of 49%, compared to 46% who see the 43rd president unfavorably. Meanwhile, another Gallup poll shows President Obama with only a 47% approval rating, with 44% disapproving. - John Nolte/Breitbart
◼ Bush’s ratings beat Obama’s - Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post
There is unmistakable satisfaction among Obama critics at this reversal in approval ratings, in part because Obama used Bush as an excuse for practically every miscue and problem right up through the election. Obama nevertheless was compelled to adopt and expand upon many of Bush’s anti-terrorism tactics, even as he was publicly excoriating Bush for his handling of jihadist terror. And now Obama must resort to exactly the same defenses that Bush used to explain our cyberdefenses. Unlike Bush, however, Obama has suffered from serial revelations of wrongdoing and cannot point to a blemish-free record (e.g. Boston, Fort Hood) on terrorist homeland attacks after Sept. 11.
Obama is not a gracious man and, therefore, has not credited Bush with instituting a raft of effective anti-terror tactics. By contrast, Bush has refrained from publicly criticizing his successor. Obama, one suspects, has no net to catch him now as his support and credibility plunge. In fact he might look back fondly on yesterday’s numbers as a time his approval was at least close to Bush’s.
